In the Comfort of Your Arms
by Dark Inu Fan
Summary: “Happy birthday to me.” Naruto grumbled, holding a rag to his bleeding lip. Sitting in a cave in training area 44, Naruto knew that he could hide from anyone that wished to send him a birthday greeting via fist or stick... Rated for Sai.


In the Comfort of Your Arms

By Dark Inu Fan

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I will most likely never write another Naruto fanfic.

* * *

"Happy birthday to me." Naruto grumbled, holding a rag to his bleeding lip. Sitting in a cave in training area 44, also known as the Forest of Death, Naruto knew that he could hide from anyone that wished to send him a birthday greeting via fist or stick or whatever other means of weaponry. Even after years of training with Kakashi, and more recently returning from a two and a half year training trip with the perverted Sanin Jiraiya, he could still be caught off-guard by the villagers. Wincing, he pulled the rag away from his split lip and stared at the bloody stain that slowly darkened on the used-to-be white cloth. "I have to get some medical supplies… or something…" he murmured, half-lidded.

He had just gotten back from a high-ranked mission, taking it because he thought it would get him out of the village during his birthday, it would surround him with people who actually appreciated him being alive. As far as he remembered, he had never really told anyone his birthday before, but it was a good assumption that everyone knew now, especially his friends that knew about his permanent tenant. Perhaps that was why the rest of his cell wanted to get back earlier than they were expected, to celebrate the 'defeat of the Kyuubi' day with the rest of the villagers. Surprisingly, except for Naruto, it was the biggest celebrated holiday in the hidden village. Even though nobody spoke of it, 'beat up Naruto' was one of the biggest spectator sports of the day. He was just too tired from his mission to run from his apartment and hide this year.

What a mistake.

Naruto woke up before dawn, pounding on his door seeming almost desperate. He thought it was Sakura or Sai, telling him to report to the tower or something. He opened the door, completely forgetting what day it was. The next thing he knew, a crowd of hands pulled and scratched him out into the streets. A simple replacement jutsu, or even a mass bunshin would have worked as an escape plan, but his mind was still too muddled from sleep and lack of chakra. Naruto could only do what he had instinctually learned how to do ever since he could remember: curl up into a ball and protect his head as much as he could. The beatings would end eventually, they always did. Most of the time because of the villagers growing tired of his lack of reaction before anyone would step in on his behalf.

What was worse was sometimes seeing the faces of those that wouldn't participate in the annual beatings, but wouldn't help either. It hurt almost as much as the cuts and welts that formed on his body.

This year was different though. This year the beating ceased almost at once, not lasting even half the time that they usually lasted. Screwing up his courage, Naruto looked up though his swollen eye to see blurry figures surrounding him, standing straight. He couldn't tell whether they were facing toward or away from him, but he felt a feather-light touch on his cheek and heard a gentle voice in his ear. "Naruto, can you run? We'll find you later after we deal with these losers." Just as quickly as the touch and voice came, they left, to become one of the blurs that surrounded him.

He rolled to his stomach, taking shallow breaths, so to not stretch his already-healing wounds, and propped himself up on his hands and knees. Grimacing, he stood, hunched over, gasping out a silent 'thanks' and jumped to the nearest roof. Despite being beaten and exhausted, he was still a ninja and could move like one no matter what. With his blurry vision, he could barely see where he was going, but by now he didn't need to know. He knew every back alley, every hiding place in Konoha, blindfolded.

It was a risk, but he would take it. He headed straight for training grounds 44. The most dangerous training grounds surrounding the village, and, ironically, the safest at the moment. Quickly finding the cave that Sakura had hidden himself and Sasuke during the trial, Naruto collapsed, passing out from the beatings and exhaustion. Waking up hours later, he rubbed his face and realized that his wounds had not stopped bleeding, though they were healing already. Pulling out a handkerchief that Hinata had given him before the mission, Naruto applied pressure to his most heavily bleeding wound, which just happened to be his split lip. The minor wounds were always the last to start healing.

Pulling himself back until he hit the back wall of the cave, Naruto hissed as he put his raw back against the cold stone wall. Closing his eyes, he listened to the surrounding forest. Having spent much of his youth in the forest and/or running from villagers, he had learned to hone his senses to his surroundings. He could actually be a surprisingly good tracker when given the opportunity, as Jiraiya had learned after his tenth or so trip to the red-light district while he was supposed to be helping Naruto train. (He honestly thought that he had hidden quite well, backtracking through several houses of ill-repute before staying at one of the low-key ones at the edge. Foolish master.) The forest sounded like it should, not sounding any alert of unknown humans in the area. After hiding in the forests for so long, the animals came to regard Naruto as nearly one of their own, and thus didn't raise any alarm when he came.

"I guess they're not coming then, ne?" he asked himself with a low chuckle and wince. One particularly large gash on his back pulling as it touched the stone. "I guess I'll have to do things myself then." closing his eyes, he placed his hands in a familiar position. Summoning the bunshin was harder than usual, giving his lack of chakra. Pulling on some of the Kyuubi's energy (wasn't the demon why he was in this mess in the first place?), he was able to create one bunshin, which looked on in concern.

"Sexy no Jutsu," the bunshin called, transforming himself into Naruko, his alter-ego. Through years of practice (persuading the Pervy-Sanin), he had managed to create the 'perfect woman' with clothes. The detail of clothing was very difficult to master at first, but there were just times when it was necessary to pass through a town as a woman rather than an adolescent boy. The woman had a black fishnet shirt on with an orange crop-top underneath. Her board-shorts were black also, accenting her long legs. A decorative orange belt hung off her hips, holding her standard hip bag. Thigh-high black boots completed the outfit, her kunai pouch attached to the top of one boot. Although he had perfected hiding the whisker marks on his female form, this time Naruko ended up with strawberry blonde hair, instead of the usual gold-blonde that both sexes usually sported.

"Kyuubi?" he asked, knowing the results and 'why' of the strawberry blonde hair. The bunshin nodded, inspecting Naruto's wounds more carefully than he could himself.

"This is more than I can heal by myself. Should I go out and find someone?" Naruto nodded, closing his eyes in fatigue. With Kyuubi running the bunshin, it could keep going even after he passed out. This had happened before, and they had eventually come to an agreement on behalf of both of their lives. If Naruto was hurt, Kyuubi would do everything in her power to help. Only thing was, sometimes 'help' was too much for Naruto's human body to handle.

"Go. Try to find Sakura-chan." Naruto murmured, trying to stay awake. Smiling softly, Kyuubi brushed his eyelids tenderly and purred in a comforting way before leaping off toward the village that was responsible for hurting her kit. Reaching the edge of the fenced-off training area, Kyuubi, dressed as Naruko, easily cleared the razor-edged fence by jumping off a high branch. Landing, she sniffed the surrounding area subtly, searching with her eyes also for anyone of Naruto's generation or one of the teachers. Not sensing anyone nearby, Kyuubi jumped toward Naruto's apartment and would spread out from there.

The balcony of the run-down apartment held many scents, including multiple scents of Naruto of varying degrees of aging. Sniffing around, the foreign scents belonged to Naruto's running mates, and the freshest grouping of scents spread off to the south, the opposite direction that Naruto had ended up going. Sighing in frustration, Naruko took off to the rooftops, following the freshest scent trail. Didn't they know how to use their noses? There were at least two of Naruto's running mates that could use their noses to track. And they were heading the opposite direction that Naruto had run in the first place. The boy had zigzagged and double-backed multiple times, but the trail wouldn't have been so hard to follow for an experienced tracker. Apparently the boy was too good at hiding his tracks by now, even when he wasn't even trying. It didn't help that Kyuubi insisted on sending ghost-scents of herself through Naruto's body when he was on the move, making Naruto's scent obsolete at times.

What luck, the pink haired female was the scent that Kyuubi had followed. Although the girl was dressed up, she still carried her ninja gear and her medical pouch over her formal kunoichi clothing. "Sakura-chan!" Kyuubi called in greeting, smiling and waving her hand before jumping down to the street that Sakura stood on.

A confused look greeted the female bunshin, "do I know you?" spotting the modification of the Konoha headband strapped as a choker around the woman's neck, Sakura relaxed slightly.

"You don't know me, but I know you through your running mate Naruto." Sakura's eyes lit up before a guarded expression masked her face.

"He never told me about you… How do you know Naruto?" putting her finger on her chin, Kyuubi had to think about her answer.

"I guess… I've known Naruto as long as he remembers… he tells me a lot about you guys, actually. He couldn't stop talking about you for the longest time…" Kyuubi smirked, reminiscing about the academy and before Sasuke's kidnapping. Snapping out of her thoughts, Naruko stared Sakura in the eye. "Naruto's hurt. He told me that you're a healer."

Sakura nodded warily. "Why should I trust you? I've never seen you around before. You could just want to hurt him more or you could be from another village…"

"You haven't seen me before? I've seen you around town sometimes, so I'm surprised that you never saw me before." Pulling on one of her high ponytails, Naruko twisted some strawberry blonde hair around her finger. Looking at the hair, she tossed it behind her shoulder in disgust. Either red or sun-blonde, not this mix of the two for hair.

"Then tell me something that only Naruto would know, since you know him so well, or so you say." Kyuubi thought, eyeing Sakura up and down. There were many things that Kyuubi could say, spying through Naruto's eyes for so many years.

"I got it!" Naruko slammed her fist into her open palm, "On your first mission away from the village, you…" Kyuubi whispered the rest into Sakura's ear.

Sakura slammed her fist into her mouth, muffling her enraged scream. "He promised never to tell _anyone_." She hissed, "Naruto, you're dead!"

Kyuubi smirked and leaned close into Sakura's face. "He didn't _tell_ me, I was there… I guess you can say. Look at me, Sakura-chan." Sakura looked into Naruko's eyes, seeing the clear blue that only one person in the village could have, only rimmed with a ring of red, casting the illusion of violet eyes from a distance. Kyuubi let Naruko's eyes flash red and slitted for a moment before turning into her usual blue.

Sakura took a step back, her hand flying to her face. "K-Kyu—"

"Naruko, please." Naruko stood back, looking around. "I know you have a radio on. Call your running-mates and come with me. The kit needs healing that I can't do."

Sakura nodded and pushed the call button for her radio. A voice crackled on, the static in her ear almost drowning it out. "Did you find him?" they were using one of the less-frequently used frequencies, but they could still be listened-on so they didn't mention their target.

"No, sensei, but I did find someone that knows where he is. He's…" Sakura looked at Naruko for the information.

"Forty-four." She responded brusquely, still keeping a lookout for the other running-mates. Sakura looked startled and Naruko gave a fanged smirk. "Didn't think of looking there, ne?"

"He… he's at training grounds forty-four. I'm heading there now." Sakura was met with a momentary silence.

"Rodger. We're heading there now. Go ahead; we'll follow your trail."

"Rodger," Naruko leapt to the rooftops and sped to the training grounds, quickly followed by Sakura.

Naruko looked at Sakura as she caught up with the female bijuu. "What happened to your cheek?" the kitsune asked, springing to the next rooftop.

"This?" Sakura brushed the bandage that covered from her cheek to jaw bone. "The villagers didn't appreciate us taking away their fun… sorry." Sakura cringed at almost mentioning the 'celebration' that was happening throughout the day. "Even jounin can't stand up to an angry mob and get away without getting injured… unless they hurt the mob."

"And that's not allowed, to hurt your fellow villagers for the sake of one, is it?" Sakura nodded her head. They both landed in the field that surrounded the training grounds, leaping to just barely clear the razor-tipped fence. Disgust was clearly written across Naruko's pretty face. "This way."

Kyuubi followed her nose, making sure that the trail that she laid to the child earlier could be followed easily. Quickly they made it to the shallow cave, ducking under the roots that made up the ceiling of the area. "…Kyuu…?" Naruto murmured, lifting his head from where he was slumped against the boulder of the back wall.

"I'm here kit." Naruko smiled, kneeling besides Naruto.

Sakura, assessing the small blood pool at the base of the boulder, stepped into the cave. "Lean him forward so I can see his back." unbuttoning what was left of his pajama shirt, Naruko and Sakura carefully peeled the ruined shirt off of Naruto and tossed it off to the side. Sakura gasped, seeing the extent of the lashes that crossed his back, arms and down past the hem of his pants.

"Don't worry," Naruko smirked at Sakura's red face, "I'm taking care of the ones on his legs… though he has no modesty by now and especially wouldn't mind if _you_ took a look at them…" stroking Naruto's hair, Naruko held the boy so that he could rest against her shoulder. A thump outside announced the arrival of the rest of team Kakashi. Yamato and Sai stood back, making sure that the rest of the clearing stayed that way: clear of unnecessary people.

Kakashi entered the small cave first, eying the strange girl first before turning to Naruto. "How's he doing?"

"He'll live." Naruko spoke up, watching Sakura work on the boy's back, healing a long gash that went from his shoulder to his opposite hip. It looked like a kunai wound from the depth. "Naruto-kun's a strong kit" leaning back against a blood-free section of stone, she closed her eyes and stroked Naruto's hair in a calming manner. Humming softly, she felt the warm glow of Sakura's chakra as she worked on first stopping the blood flow, then closing it enough to start healing on its own.

"Who are you?" Sai asked, leaning against a strong root, watching the outside world. Peering inside, he watched as the mysterious girl pet Naruto's cheek softly.

Naruko gave a mysterious smile, "A close friend of Naruto-kun's." she kissed the crown of the boy's head softly and continued to soothe the boy. Sai couldn't help but watch, this mysterious girl that almost seemed like she could be a blood relative of Naruto's. She treated the boy with a tenderness that Sai had never been witness to before. He had heard about the Kyuubi container. He had learned that all of his relatives were dead, that the boy had been an orphan since the day he was born, since the day of the Kyuubi attack. Not even ROOT had taken in that orphan. Nobody cared for Naruto, not even the adults at the orphanage, or so he had heard.

"I thought Naruto didn't have any relatives." Naruko looked up at the simple statement. Sai's face was devoid of any emotion except for a glimmer of confusion. "Wouldn't any relative have taken him in if he did have any?"

"Sai…" Kakashi spoke up, his hand about to stay any further comments.

Naruko shook her head and smiled. "I've never really thought of it that way, Sai-kun." She looked at Naruto, who had fallen asleep almost as soon as his healing started. "But I guess you call me his relative; or something like that. I have tried to watch over the Kit ever since he became aware of me… but that's hard to do when you don't have a body most of the time…" Naruko stroked Naruto's head again. "Mmm… I guess Naruto could be considered my kit, my child, at times… I love him like one."

"Body?" Sai asked, confused, but suspicious at the same time. Yamato looked in, raising his hand in preparation of sealing off Kyuubi's chakra in case things got out of hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Naruko smirked, not looking up from where she laid her cheek on Naruto's head, "Yamato Sensei." Kyuubi purred, soothing Naruto as Sakura moved on to a deep puncture that had severed one of the tendons in his arm. The unconscious boy grimaced as his tissue was knit back together by the healing chakra of Sakura and Kyuubi combined. "If you suppress me now, Naruto might just die of blood loss, and you wouldn't want that on your hands, would you?" Kyuubi stuck out her bottom lip in a fake pout, superiority shining in her eyes. The ANBU nearly growled, lowering his hand and turning back to his lookout position toward the forest.

Sakura worked in silence, at least stopping the bleeding in the wounds that crossed Naruto's body. She saw the faint orange glow of chakra as Kyuubi's power helped heal the boy, nearly quadrupling the rate of which the slashes were healing. The welts and bruising that had colored the boys back at first were long gone by the time that Sakura had started. "… I'm sorry." Her soft voice seemed to echo though the small area, drawing the other's attention. Kakashi and Kyuubi looked at her, willing her to continue. "Momma asked me to be back early and, well, I guess I should have known why Naruto was so eager to take the mission…" Sakura didn't notice that Naruto had opened his eyes a slit. "I guess I should have taken the hint when Naruto was stalling, but…"

"It's okay Sakura-chan." Naruto mumbled barely loud enough to be heard. "It's my fault for forgetting what day it was when we got home last night… All I was thinking of was my bed."

"Kit, don't push it." Kyuubi warned, staying Naruto from sitting up while Sakura worked on his back.

"I need to work on his chest now." Sakura commented quietly, pulling back so that Naruto could lie against Naruko's chest. The boy was hesitant, but Naruko pulled him back gently, stroking the crown of his head. Nodding absently, he gave in to Kyuubi's gentle ministrations. On his chest, Sakura saw the remnants of self-inflicted wounds from Naruto's nails as he protected himself from the villager's beating. Scratch marks from where he held himself tightly so to not scream out loud, giving the villagers the satisfaction that they needed. "I'll just wrap these." Sakura could see Kyuubi's chakra as it burned the abrasions away from the inside out. Nodding, Kyuubi continued to watch the girl work.

"He's always respected you." Kyuubi murmured softly, helping get the bandages around his torso and cover everything. Startled, Sakura pulled back from her work to look at Naruko. The girl gestured for the demoness to continue. "Your potential. I told him that I could see something in you, something that would possibly make you stronger than you ever expected from yourself." Kyuubi smirked, stroking Naruto's head. "I just never told him what, specifically, that potential was for. I'm glad that you turned out the way that you did; you became a strong young lady for Naruto to follow after." Blushing, Sakura tied off the bandages with a bow.

"…Thank you." Wrapping one arm, Sakura commented on the still-exposed cuts. "From what I'm seeing, Naruto can take these wraps off tonight if he wants to."

"I'm right here, you know." Naruto piped up, brushing away Naruko's restraining arms while Sakura tied off his last wrapping. Turning his face so that she could bandage it, Sakura frowned at his cheeks.

"Your tattoos are bleeding…?" Brushing a drop of blood off of his cheek, Naruto hissed as her finger brushed the scratches.

"They're not tattoos, they're scars. Someone must have cut them open again." Turning away, Naruto wiped away the rest of the blood on his cheeks harshly, suppressing the shudder of pain. Catching his hand, Sakura pulled away and wiped the last of the blood off with a soft cloth, then bandaged the cuts with a square bandage on each cheek. Sitting back, Sakura gave Naruto a once-over to inspect her handiwork and nodded. Suppressing a grin, she turned away and stood up.

"I… I'm going to get you a change of clothes. Kyuubi-san, make sure he doesn't move around too much for a while, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Sakura jumped off in time to hide the blush that spread over her face.

"You heard her kit, get over here." Kyuubi held her arms open, a smirk on her face. Half-growling, Naruto moved over to where Kyuubi sat. Settling him between her knees, Kyuubi wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled him to lie against her. She rumbled soothingly, petting his bangs. "Sleep, kit," She murmured, the hand petting his hair glowing softly with reddish chakra. Eyes drooping, Naruto laid his head under her chin in sleep. "When you wake up, you won't remember this morning." His breathing evened out and Kyuubi pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. In his mind, Kyuubi's tails wrapped around the boy's spiritual body protectively while her nose touched his forehead gently.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Tsunade called out, waving to her pink-haired subordinate. Stopping immediately, Sakura turned around and waited for the Hokage to catch up. "Did you find him?" Sakura nodded and gestured the clothes that she was holding.

"I was just going to give these to him. Kakashi-Sensei, Yamato-sensei and Sai are with him already. I helped heal most of his major wounds, but left the minor ones to heal on their own. With a little rest, he should be healed by tonight." Nodding at the report, Tsunade sighed in relief, but noticed that Sakura was holding something back.

"Anything else?" Turning her eyes away, Sakura blushed slightly.

"Naruto's… _friend_ was the one that led me to where he hid, Tsunade-sama."

"Friend… As long as Yamato is there, you don't have to worry about her too much, Sakura-chan." Nodding, Sakura turned to go. "Sakura," Tsunade halted the girl's jump. "Make sure that Naruto looks presentable for tonight, ok?" Nodding, Sakura took off to the forest of death with a dismissive wave from her teacher. "Naruto's _friend_… I need a drink…" rubbing her forehead, Tsunade turned toward the nearest bar… which was across town and closed this time of day… and for the holiday…

On the other hand, she might as well just open up her 'secret stash' in her office instead.

* * *

"Why am I here again? This is so troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed, leaning against a wall. Ino, walking by him and holding a small square box with a ribbon on top, smacked him in the ribs.

"I just hope that the food doesn't get cold…" Choji whined, looking at the table filled with various covered dishes. Around the room, most of the Rookie twelve mixed with other ninja and civilians alike. There were even some guests from foreign lands, such as the Sand Siblings.

"Stop whining you two, this is supposed to be a party." Ino chastised, walking across the room to place her small present next to the growing pile on the desk. The gathering was in the Hokage's office, but the space had been cleared of mostly everything relating to business for the day. In one corner, a table had been set up to hold snacks and drinks for the guests, as well as various chairs and coffee tables had been set around the room for guests to relax. The Hokage desk, instead of holding important documents, held a growing pile of colorfully wrapped boxes. The Hokage's chair held the hat, hanging off one of the posts on the back. Outside the windows of the tower room, the sky darkened into a beautiful sunset.

One thing that stayed that was business-like was the intercom attached to the desk. The com beeped and Tsunade pressed the button to connect the call. "Yes?"

"He's here Tsunade-sama."

"Okay. Thank you Shizune." Looking up, Tsunade nodded to Kurenai, who cast a genjutsu to hide the 'un-Hokage-like' things in the room… like the guests.

* * *

"Why did Tsunade-baa-chan need to see me again?" Naruto asked, picking at his black tee-shirt with a frown. The shirt had a red spiral on it, ending in what could have been called a flame at his heart. "I thought that Kakashi-sensei already gave her the verbal report yesterday." Shrugging innocently, Sakura barely hid her knowing smirk.

"I don't know Naruto, maybe she just wants you to clarify something in the report." Naruko followed silently, her head tilted in slight confusion. She knew something was up.

Shrugging, Naruto followed Sakura inside the Tower, waving at Shizune as she played receptionist for the day while the normal one was out with her family at one of the festivals spread around the village. "You can go right in Naruto," Shizune smiled at him after buzzing Tsunade's office. "Oh!" She spoke up as Naruto passed her to head up the stairs. "Happy birthday by the way." Startled, Naruto looked over at the medic ninja and gave a small smile.

"Thanks." Reaching the top of the stairs, Sakura gestured for Naruto to go first while Naruko and Sakura would follow behind. "Oi! Tsunade-baa-chan, what's the deal?" Naruto asked in a mock-angry voice, walking up to Tsunade's desk. Looking up from her 'paperwork' Tsunade tossed Naruto a scroll.

"That's for you, apparently it arrived for you earlier but you were… preoccupied." Nodding, Naruto looked at the scroll, which held a seal over the seam and the paper looked aged.

Naruko, looking around the room from where she stayed by the door, walked silently to a random bookcase, "Nice illusion." She murmured, running a manicured talon along the book titles. "A lot of kitsune I know would have a difficult time holding something this intricate for a long amount of time, but all of your book titles are the same… and you're not masking the scent of the people or food well enough." At that time, Naruto decided to turn away from Tsunade's desk and half-sit on the edge as he inspected the scroll, bumping the 'tower of paperwork' that sat on the edge.

The contents of the desktop shifted, and one of the invisible presents fell, only for Naruto to catch it without looking and put it back where it was on the pile. "I know you're all there," he mumbled, not looking up from the scroll, "you can release the genjutsu." Biting his thumb, Naruto smeared the blood on the seam, releasing the seal that kept the scroll closed. "I don't know who all is here, except that Gaara, you've come a long way just to say 'hi.'" Smirking, Naruto started reading the scroll, peeking over the edge that he held up.

Behind the genjutsu, the various rookies blushed and sniggered at Naruto's comment, turning towards Kurenai's position. Sighing, she dropped the genjutsu that she held over the room. "Happy birthday Naruto!" everyone yelled as he looked up from the scroll. Smiling, Naruto pocketed the half-read scroll and properly greeted his guests.

"Thank you everyone for coming. I can't really say how much this means to me—Oi!" Tsunade plunked the Hokage hat hard onto Naruto's head as she headed straight for the punch bowl, saké jug in hand.

"Shut up and sit in your chair already," Tsunade barked back, fixing some 'special punch' that everyone knew to keep Lee away from. Touching the brim of 'his' hat, Naruto Grinned and bounced around the present-laden desk, flopping into 'his' chair. "Don't get too used to it, you only get it tonight." Tsunade commented, sipping her 'special' punch. Naruto only replied with a raspberry.

"Open mine first!" Lee yelled enthusiastically, punching the air above his head. It didn't take long for Naruto to find the rectangular green box with the orange bow on top… the same color scheme as the Jr. Green Beast himself. With a small smile on his face, Naruto carefully split the tape, wincing when he accidentally ripped the paper.

"Just rip it open already!" an irritated girl called from the other end of the room. Blushing, Naruto slid his finger under the last piece of tape and let the paper fall open. Opening the top, Naruto held up a bracelet made of vertical bars attached together.

"They're chakra weights. I can't use them, but with the power of youth, use them to make your youth overflow!" Starting out sheepishly, Lee ended his explanation with his 'good guy' pose. The weights would match his green spandex suit that he had 'conveniently lost' some years ago, given to him by Gai himself.

"Mine next" Jiraiya handed Naruto an orange-wrapped rectangle. Heeding people's advice, he ripped the paper to reveal… the newest Icha Icha Paradise book. "It's not even published yet, I thought you'd like the newest installment."

"Um… thanks…" Naruto managed to give his mentor a small smile before putting the book face-down on the far edge of the desk. He'd give it to Kakashi in private later. Gifts continued to come from his friends, useful things like a new kunai set from Tenten to sentimental things like several coupons for free ramen at Ichiraku's, including a '50 free bowls to my best customer' from Ichiraku Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. Naruto wouldn't have to pay for ramen for at least the next month with all the coupons he got (Basically, everyone that couldn't think of something asked Iruka what he was going to get Naruto).

"Go ahead Gaara," Temari nudged her younger brother forward from where he stood at the far wall. Holding a small box, Gaara shoved it under Naruto's nose and turned away. "Gaara made it himself!" Temari called over, making Gaara blush slightly.

"Long nights." He said in way of explanation, crossing his arms and watching Naruto open the present carefully out of the corner of his eye. Opening the box, Naruto looked at the sand that filled it.

"Uh…" gesturing to the sand subtly, Gaara moved it to leave the box and hover around the desk, leaving an object in the box. Lifting it out carefully, Naruto marveled at the glass statuette.

"The red color is made with molten gold." Gaara explained, watching Naruto trace the delicate features with a finger.

"Good likeness." Naruko commented, bending over Naruto to get a better look, "but was I really that fat?" she mumbled into Naruto's ear as she stood up.

"It's beautiful." Naruto finally managed to say, turning the statuette for everyone else to see. The glass Kyuubi stood tall, with her nine tails curled elegantly around her legs and body. Red eyes seemed to glow with an 'I'm better than you' look. The detail was almost life-like in the face, as well as the subtle mix of orange-tinged and clear glass that formed the tails.

"Glass is one of our major exports, since it's just melted sand." Temari explained since Gaara refused to talk more. "Apparently little brother uses his nights molding glass while the rest of us sleep." Gaara nodded minutely, suppressing his blush.

"Cool. Your stuff must be really popular, Gaara."

"Actually, Gaara destroys most of his creations before we can see anything." Kankuro cut off what Temari was going to say.

"Oh… Well, save some of your stuff so I can see it next time I visit, okay?" Gaara nodded and gave Naruto a small smile, "Maybe I'll show you some stuff that I can make then." turning to the rest of the party, Naruto gave one of his biggest grins. "Oi, isn't this a party? What are you all just watching me for?" Sitting back, Naruto enjoyed the feeling of power that the chair gave for a moment before feeling the lump in his pocket. Pulling out the scroll he started reading earlier, he unraveled it to start reading again.

_Little Naruto._

_By the time you read this, I guess you wouldn't be so little any more. I am sorry that I never got to see you grow up, but I hope that you had at least a decent childhood without me in your way. If you turn out anything like your mother, you're going to get in trouble every week, aren't you? Just, I hope that you didn't give your guardians hell, whoever they end up being. _

_Let me try again. Hello Namikaze_ _Naruto, my name is Minato and I am your father. You are my first and only child. Your mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki and she was the 'Honorable Daughter' (I bet you get the 'Honorable Son' all the time, don't you?) of the small Whirlpool nation. We met while I was on a mission and some years after, she became a diplomat for the Whirlpool country in Konoha. I had already been the Hokage for a year when she saw me again. We dated and sometime after… you came along. We planned on getting married the spring after you were born so that Kushina wouldn't be attacked in her condition because she was the Hokage's wife. This is still hard for me to understand, but she died during childbirth. She died for you, and I will be doing the same in only a matter of hours. I am so sorry. I never meant to leave you alone and parentless. The very idea my only son becoming a cursed orphan brings me to tears. I just hope that Sarutobi and Jiraiya listen to me and have the villagers treat you like the hero that you are. Without you, the Kyuubi would have destroyed the entirety of Konoha. I am only a foolish man that wants to save the only family that he has left. I love you more than life itself. _

_I asked Jiraiya to at least look in on you every once in a while, since he is your god-father, and make sure that you were having at least a decent childhood. I don't trust the man with being your main guardian though; the last thing that I would want is you to become a mini-Jiraiya of all things! Hitake Kakashi is young, but I asked him to look in on you also. He's my student and very talented. He could help you achieve your dreams if you manage to catch his eye._

_You're crying. You have a very good set of lungs. Kushina said that you hadn't cried yet and had a very smart pair of eyes when she held you as she died. She read your chakra signature and said that you had power for one so young. I just hope you are strong enough to survive. I'm going to seal Kyuubi in you, yes the nine-tailed kitsune if you haven't been told already, and I hope that this gives you the power to do whatever you are destined to do. Again, I hope that you become the hero of Konoha, but I know the villagers… I am sorry for the pain that you will have to endure. _

_The Kyuubi comes closer and I have to finish the sealing work. I wish that I could have just held you, but I know that I can't. _

_I love you more than life itself._

_Namikaze Minato _

Wiping away a tear, Naruto noticed a summoning seal drawn underneath the Yondaime's name. Curiously, Naruto smudged his bloody finger over the seal and put enough chakra in to activate it. An old kunai pouch puffed into existence containing some strange three-pronged kunai and a note:

_Happy birthday Naruto! I hope that by now you've learned how to summon. These kunai are what allowed me to do my Shunshin no Jutsu. Both Kakashi and Jiraiya know the basics of how I used my jutsu and they can teach you what they know. I know that you'll be smart enough to figure out the rest. I suspect that it may be connected to a possible Kekkei Genkai, but if you are unable to use them, do not be disappointed. There are many other things that make you special without this one jutsu._

_Your Father. _

"Yo."

"You're late!" Sakura greeted back (more like screeched) instantly, "You can't even make it to a party in time!" crouched in the window, Kakashi waved his fingers in greeting, holding a bakery box up in lieu of apology.

"Tsunade had me get the cake." Stepping down from the open window, Kakashi placed the bakery box on the desk and pulled out the cake— covered on orange icing with blue lettering—and started to put miniature candles around the outer edge.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked curiously, reading his name in the blue icing.

"Putting candles on the cake," came Kakashi's simple reply.

"Why?" startled, Kakashi almost missed placing the next candle in the middle of one of the miniature Rasen-shurikens.

Shikamaru placed his—it was Asuma's—lighter on the desk for Kakashi to use. "So you can blow them out."

Scrunching his eyebrows trying to understand, Naruto asked again. "Why put candles on a cake? Wouldn't the wax ruin it?"

"It's to make a wish Naruto," Sakura replied before Kakashi, "Haven't you ever had a birthday cake before?" Shaking his head, Naruto continued to watch Kakashi as he lit one candle and lit the others with the lit candle before putting it in a sixteenth Rasen-shuriken. "Ever…?" Sakura gasped out in confusion, her hand flying to cover her mouth in shock. The small conversations spread throughout the room died out, turning to the desk where team Kakashi stood. The only noise left in the room was the fizzling of the sparkler candles, and even that seemed suppressed by the general sense of shock in the room.

"Ha-happy birthday Naruto." Hinata spoke up quietly, pushing her two fingers together while she blushed.

"You've grown a year older." Tsunade smirked, taking on an almost musical lilt to her voice.

"A year wiser." Shikamaru laughed, grinning while he put his lighter away.

The others in the room quickly picked up on the poem.

"Strength only grows while youth only fades"

"Strength is youth!" Lee interjected playfully.

"Hold your head high and march foreword"

"Destiny is not told in stone"

"Make your own path"

"And never stop learning."

"Happy birthday Naruto,"

"Your life has just begun." Sakura concluded with a grin.

"And one day you might actually grow a penis!" Sai called out from the other side of the room, earning a half-hearted glare from Naruto. Naruko, who just happened to be next to the ex-ROOT member, smacked the boy upside the head, hard.

"I'll have you know…" Naruko muttered, crouching over Sai's prone form, "that he's more of a _man_ than you, sissy."

"Blow out your candles Naruto, and make a wish!" Hinata smiled at her long-time crush. Someone had turned off the lights so that they could see the cake better. Naruto smiled back and inhaled.

"A silent wish, Naruto, or it won't come true." Kakashi informed, taking up his place by the window. Nodding, Naruto gave it his all to blow out the candles, for them to all re-light a second later and continue sparkling. Confused, Naruto blew them out again, only for them to re-light again. Some snickers and giggles floated around the room as Naruto stared down the innocently-lit cake. Trying once again unsuccessfully, this time for most of the room to break out in laughter.

"Blow them out with your youth!" Lee cheered on, pumping his fists into the air.

"Okay… Let's try something new…" Calling up his wind-element chakra, he forced his hand down over the center of the cake. The small blast of wind chakra bent all of the candles outward and blew out the flames. The wind was controlled enough that the cake itself wasn't touched.

"They're chakra-laced re-lighting candles." Neji murmured, his arms crossed and Byakugan activated briefly.

As if the candles heard Neji, the flames sprung back to life, brighter than ever, on the tilted candles. Groaning in disbelief, Naruto nearly slammed his head into the desk in frustration. Sighing, he grabbed one of the candles and held it out, "Hinata-chan, do you want a sparkler?"

"Um…" Hinata blushed bright red and reached for the offered candle. "Th-thank you Naruto-kun." Grinning, Naruto stuck it in the whole cupcake she was holding.

"There, now you can try to blow it out also!" Plucking a different candle, Naruto walked over to Gaara and gave it to the Wind Shadow. "Tsunade-baa-chan!" another one found itself held in her hand. Grinning, Naruto gave all of the candles to his guests, some more reluctantly than others.

Kakashi was the last one to receive a candle and held it loosely in his hand, touching his headband in exasperation; he made sure that it was tilting correctly. _There was only enough chakra to keep them lit this long_, he thought, rolling his eyes and blowing out the candle.

"How'd you do that Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, seeing the older man blow out the candle and it staying unlit. He didn't see Neji blow out his candle as well, it staying burnt out as well.

"They ran out of chakra, Naruto." Kakashi said dryly.

"Oh…" Naruto grinned knowingly, "Do all birthday candles have chakra in them?"

Thankful that his mask and hachimaki hid most of his face, Kakashi shook his head, his blush only able to be seen on the small strip of face below his natural eye. "No. I bought them at the joke shop."

"So they're special candles…?" Grinning before jumping back to his chair and grabbing his hat, Naruto plopped the official hat onto his head. "You can all blow out your candle now." Waiting until they did, Naruto gave a huge grin, "I want you all to keep the candle that I gave you, that's my wish… or at least part of it! Each time that the flame blew out, the light went away, but with each time that the flame re-lit itself, it burned bigger and brighter. I hope that you keep your candles and remember that the flame can never be completely blown own, and that another candle can always relight the flame." Grinning around the room, Naruto gestured to his orange cake, "Now, who wants cake?"

* * *

Later that night, after Naruto insisted to at least help with some of the clean-up, team Kakashi sat together and snacked on some of the leftovers. "You didn't have to flirt with everything with two legs, Ko-chan." Naruto reprimanded, licking orange frosting off of his fork. As the guests put away their candles and ate their cake, Naruko had taken it upon herself to mingle with the guests, embarrassing Naruto to no end at some of the more suggestive things she had said.

"There was Akamaru also, kit." She licked off some frosting that had made it to Naruto's cheek, making the boy blush.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to his inner self, "you know what I meant. I don't think I've ever seen Hinata-chan that red before… but I've seen Neji-san that red though…" Grimacing, Naruto recalled the killer stare that the older Hyuuga had watched Naruko with as she sidled up to Hinata. He had to be restrained when Hinata was given a peck on the cheek and a whisper in the ear, nearly making the younger girl swoon.

"What _did_ you say to her?" Sakura asked, slightly pink-faced from the last of the 'special' punch that Tsunade had prepared.

Smiling sweetly, Naruko gave Sakura a peck on the cheek also, "that's for Hinata to know and you to find out," she whispered as if she was telling the secret.

"At least that explains why you have no penis, with you being half-girl and all." Sai smirked, looking up briefly from his sketchbook. He was referring to a conversation earlier between Gaara and the kitsune.

"_Hello, host of Shukaku." Naruko purred, looking into Gaara's green eyes._

"_Kyuubi." Gaara muttered back in greeting, nodding. Some of the other partygoers overheard Gaara's statement and quieted, waiting to hear the rest of the conversation._

_Drawing her claw across his cheek, Kyuubi 'tsk'ed, "Shukaku doesn't let his host sleep, does he?" bending down to his eye level, "even I know to let my host sleep. Humans need sleep to live, don't they?" without waiting for an answer, Kyuubi stared into and past Gaara's eyes._

"_Kyuubi?" _

"_Shh, let Gaara sleep." She murmured softly, holding his face in both of her hands. Soon afterward, his eyelids drooped and then his body. The older sand siblings tensed as they caught their young Kazekage, limp with sleep. "He'll be fine. I told Shukaku to let Gaara sleep or his host would die of exhaustion. It only took me a week to figure that out about Naruto-kun."_

"_I thought Shukaku was extracted…?" Temari asked in confusion, helping Kankuro place their brother on a couch. _

_Shaking her head Kyuubi smiled over to Naruto and then turned back to the siblings. "The bond between Bijuu and host is stronger than a human marriage. Shukaku's energy was taken, true, but only death separates the two. Gaara's still alive, so Shukaku is still alive, but very weak. Save one, save the other; kill one, kill both. _

"_Then how can you be Kyuubi?" Shikamaru interjected, eyeing the girl suspiciously._

_Striking a sexy pose with her hand flipping one of her ponytails, Naruko smirked. "Master Naruto-sama created a bunshin that he's allowing me to control as long as I'm a good girl—"_

"_Cut the bull Ko-chan," Naruto called irritably, drawing some of his energy away from the bunshin in warning._

_Huffing, Naruko dropped her pose to having her hands on her hips. "I'm not really here, okay, I'm just controlling this 'Oroke no Jutsu'ed Bunshin from my lovely cage in scenic Naruto-chan's stomach. As long as I don't plot to take revenge on this stupid hovel you call a village, I get temporary free reign. Happy now?" Naruko snarled at her host, who was busy hiding his face in his hand and groaning. _

"_That wasn't exactly how I was going to tell them…"_

"_Well, that explains that horrid jutsu you came up with when we were still in the academy, you're half a girl!" Ino snickered, turning from bunshin to host, comparing them mentally. "At least you got better at it and gave yourself some clothes!"_

"_Thank you, I really like the clothing selection, don't you?" Striking up another sexy pose, Naruko smirked at Ino in response. Half of the guys turned away, wiping away various amounts of bloody noses. _

"I'm all guy, thanks Sai." Naruto commented dryly, "And you didn't have to tell them like that Ko-chan."

"What and what were you going to do? Wait until they were forty and half of them dead?" Naruko rebuked.

"No, I was going to wait until I knew that I could trust them not to sell me off to the Akatsuki or something."

"Like they could take me away from you, kit. I'm 'King of the Beasts' remember?"

"Finished." Sai muttered, carefully ripping out the page he had been working on all day, he had even disappeared to his apartment for a short while to get his colored pencils before hiding in a corner of the Hokage's office during the party to work on it, hiding it away with a quick flip of a page whenever someone got the urge to take a peek.

"What were you drawing, Sai?" Sakura asked, trying to look at the neatly torn out page. Pulling it away from her eyes, Sai slipped the page into a simple frame that he had brought from home. Writing a quick inscription on the back, he handed the whole thing to Naruto, but was quickly intercepted by Naruko as she skipped across the room.

"Aww, that's so cute!" she cooed, tracing something on the glass-covered picture.

"Give that back Ko-chan!" Naruto stood up and reached for the picture, but with Naruko's two inch height advantage, she easily kept it out of the teen's reach. "Don't make me!" he warned, hands on his hips.

"You wouldn't da—"

"Kai!" Naruko disappeared in a puff of smoke and Naruto caught the picture before it hit the ground. Turning it over, Naruto's expression changed as he looked at the colored sketch. "Thank you…" he managed to mutter as he stared intently at the faces in the portrait. A wet droplet fell onto the glass, blurring Naruto's face for a second before the boy wiped it away. Touching each face, Naruto scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "H—" his voice broke and he tried again, "How do you know who my parents are?" The sketch was from that morning, when he was asleep against Naruko's chest. He looked almost peaceful as she stroked his hair languidly. It looked almost like a plain sketch of the two, except that two transparent figures hung in the back of the cave: a woman with long red hair and a man that looked almost like an exact replica of Naruto himself, only older.

"In ROOT," Sai spoke up right behind Naruto, "we were taught every family tree in Konoha, including yours. Your mother died from blood loss after you were born, and your father died hours later sealing Kyuubi." His impassionate voice seemed almost sympathetic as he stated the facts. "Namikaze-sama was an orphan from the great shinobi war and Kushina-san was exiled from her village for falling in love with a foreigner. Soon after, the entire country of the Whirlpool collapsed."

"Then I really am alone then." Naruto attempted a laugh, "not even a chance of family out there."

"That's not true Naruto," Sakura leaned over the opposite shoulder that Sai stood over and kissed his cheek, "We're your family now. Konoha is your family."

Standing behind his students, Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair. "I have to get going now." Turning to jump out the window, Kakashi gave a small wave. "Oh, and happy birthday Naruto. You would have made your parents proud." With that Kakashi turned and left.

"Yeah…" Naruto smiled and traced the transparent form of his father, who smiled back at him from the page.

* * *

It's not my best work, but it sure ended up being my longest one-shot (19 full pages). This is dedicated to two (don't hit me!) Narutards and a third that I haven't quite met yet that play team 7 at conventions. All they need is a Kakashi and they'd be set! I meant this to be out for the holidays, but I guess this ended up being a little late. I don't really like Naruto that much, but I hope that I got all the facts straight for the timeline.

Please don't forget to review now that you've read, and Flames help me make wonderful S'mores.

Dark Inu Fan


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